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The first generation of video game consoles (19721977) were the first consoles in the history of video games. They were dedicated consoles that had built-in games rather than cartridges, and they used discrete logic in the form of transistor–transistor logic (TTL) rather than microprocessors. The first generation includes the Magnavox Odyssey, Home Pong, Coleco Telstar, Nintendo Color TV Game, and other consoles.

Sales figures[]

Console Company Year Sales As of Market Launch price
Nominal Inflation
Color TV Game Nintendo 3,031,000 1979
Color TV-Game 6 Nintendo 1977 1,000,000[1][2] 1978 Japan $36[3] $170
TV Fun Color Model 601 Tomy 1977 11,000[4] 1978 Japan $36[5] $170
Sharp Color TV Game Sharp 1977 20,000[4] 1978 Japan $36[5] $170
Color TV-Game 15 Nintendo 1977 1,000,000[1][2] 1979 Japan $56[6] $270
Color TV-Racing 112 Nintendo 1978 500,000[1] 1979 Japan $57[7] $260
Color TV-Block Kuzushi Nintendo 1979 500,000[1] 1979 Japan $62[8] $250
Epoch consoles Epoch 3,000,000[9] 1981
TV Tennis Electrotennis Epoch 1975 90,000 1978 Japan $66[10] $340
Video Game VG-104 Hitachi 1977 10,000[11] 1978 Japan $92[4] $440
TV Game System 10 Epoch / NEC 1977 200,000[12] 1978 Japan $58[13] $280
Epoch TV Baseball Epoch 1978 230,000[12] 1978 Japan $88[14] $390
Atari consoles Atari 1,500,000[15] 1978
Tele-Games Pong Sears 1975 150,000[16][17] 1975 NA $98.95[18] $540
Home Pong Atari 1975 50,000[19][20] 1976 NA $98.95[18] $540
C-100 Toyo Bussan 1977 3,000[4] 1978 Japan $93[4] $450
Coleco Telstar series Coleco 1,000,000[21] 1979
Coleco Telstar Coleco 1976 300,000[22] 1979 NA $50[21] $260
Odyssey series Magnavox 500,000[23] 1976
Magnavox Odyssey Magnavox 1972 367,000[24] 1975 NA $99.95[25] $700
Odyssey 100 Magnavox 1975 133,000[23] 1975 NA $99.95[26] $540
Odyssey 200 Magnavox 1975 1975 NA $129.95[27] $710
Shooting Gallery Nintendo 1972 20,000[28][29] 1975 NA $25[30] $170
APF TV Fun series APF 400,000[31] 1977
APF TV Fun Model 401 APF 1976 200,000 1977 NA $90[32] $430
APF TV Fun Model 402 APF 1976 200,000 1977 NA $90[32] $430
Fuji consoles Fuji Electric 33,000 1978
TV-Game Sportstron Fuji Electric 1977 25,000[4] 1978 Japan $28[4] $140
Video Family G5500 Todaka 1977 3,000[4] 1978 Japan $36[4] $170
Video Fighter G2200 Fuji Electric 1977 5,000[4] 1978 Japan $36[4] $170
Other consoles 61,000
Takatoku TUG Takatoku Toys 1977 30,000[4] 1978 Japan $93[4] $450
Name Of The Game Allied's 1976 16,000[33][34] 1978 NA $67[34] $340
Lion TV Game[n 1] Lion 1977 9,000[4] 1978 Japan N/A N/A
TY-TG40 Matsushita 1977 5,000[4] 1978 Japan $92[4] $440
Tennis Game Machine[n 2] Packel[n 3] 1975 1,000[4] 1975 Japan $440[4] $2,400
Total 8,066,000

Sales history[]

Year Sales
Odyssey [35] Epoch Tennis [12] Atari Pong Coleco Telstar [36] Nintendo Color TV Game [1][12][37]
Atari Sears Toyo Game 6 Game 15 Racing Kuzushi
1972 69,000
1973 158,000
(+89,000)
1974 287,000
(+129,000)
1975 367,000
(+80,000)[24]
10,000[38] 50,000[19] 150,000[16]
1976 40,000
(+30,000)
1977 90,000
(+50,000)
3,000[4] 500,000 300,000
1978 203,000 300,000[22] 1,000,000
(+500,000)
1,000,000
(+700,000)
500,000
1979 2,500,000 500,000
1980 3,000,000

Notes[]

  1. ライオン歯磨きキャンペーン用TVゲーム Lion Hamigaki Kyanpēn-yō TV Game
  2. テニス・ゲーム・マシン Tenisu Gēmu Mashin
  3. パッケル測器 Pakkeru Sokki

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Sheff, David; Eddy, Andy (1999), Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered the World, GamePress, p. 27, ISBN 978-0-9669617-0-6, "Nintendo entered the home market in Japan with the dramatic unveiling of Color TV Game 6, which played six versions of light tennis. It was followed by a more powerful sequel, Color TV Game 15. A million units of each were sold. The engineering team also came up with systems that played a more complex game, called "Blockbuster," as well as a racing game. Half a million units of these were sold."
  2. 2.0 2.1 Horowitz, Ken (2020-07-30). "Video Killed the Electromechanical Star". Beyond Donkey Kong: A History of Nintendo Arcade Games. McFarland & Company. pp. 27. ISBN 978-1-4766-4176-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=UXD0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27.
  3. Nintendo Color TV-Game 6 (カラー テレビゲーム 6, 1977). Before Mario (April 9, 2011). Retrieved on May 8, 2020.
  4. 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 The Ultimate Chronological Table of Japanese Home Videogame Systems (Japanese). Classic Videogame Station Odyssey (CVS Odyssey) (2013-07-13).
  5. 5.0 5.1 https://infoconsolas.com/en/color-tv-game-block-kuzushi-nintendo-en/
  6. Nintendo Color TV-Game 15 (カラー テレビゲーム 15, 1977). Before Mario (January 22, 2012). Retrieved on May 8, 2020.
  7. Nintendo Color TV Game Racing 112 (任天堂 カラー テレビゲーム レーシング 112, 1978). Before Mario (May 28, 2011). Retrieved on May 8, 2020.
  8. Nintendo Color TV Game Block Kuzushi (任天堂 カラー テレビゲーム ブロック崩し, 1979). Before Mario (May 6, 2011). Retrieved on May 8, 2020.
  9. Retro-Gaming: Die allererste japanische Videospielkonsole feiert 40. Jubiläum (2019-01-22). Archived from the original on January 22, 2019.
  10. M.B. Mook (2016) (in ja). Perfect Guide of Nostalgic Family Computer. Tokyo: Magazine Box. pp. 99–100. ISBN 9784906735891. https://archive.org/details/atsukashiFC/page/n99/mode/2up.
  11. https://thegamescholar.com/2020/06/10/the-forgotten-epic/
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 昔(1970年代)のテレビゲームは何台売れた? (How many old (1970s) video games sold?) (Japanese). Classic Videogame Station Odyssey (CVS Odyssey) (2014-01-09). Archived from the original on 2023-11-02.
  13. https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/63203/Epoch-TV-Game-System-10/
  14. https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=2&c=798
  15. https://mcurrent.name/atarihistory/wci_games.html
  16. 16.0 16.1 Ellis, David (2004). "Dedicated Consoles". Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games. Random House. pp. 33–36. ISBN 0-375-72038-3. https://archive.org/details/officialpricegui00davi/page/33.
  17. Kent, Steven (2001). "Strange Bedfellows". Ultimate History of Video Games. Three Rivers Press. pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4.
  18. 18.0 18.1 Wish Book for the 1975 Christmas Season. Sears. 1975. pp. 412. http://www.wishbookweb.com/FB/1975_Sears_Wishbook/index.html#412.
  19. 19.0 19.1 Booth, John (27 June 2012). "Timeline: A Look Back at 40 Years of Atari". Wired. https://www.wired.com/2012/06/atari-40th-anniversary/.
  20. Baer, Ralph H. (2005). Videogames: In the Beginning. Rolenta Press. pp. 10–3. ISBN 978-0-9643848-1-1. https://archive.org/details/VideogamesInTheBeginningRalphH.Baer/page/n31/mode/2up.
  21. 21.0 21.1 Herman, Leonard (1997). Phoenix: the fall & rise of videogames (2nd ed.). Union, NJ: Rolenta Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-9643848-2-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=duITAQAAIAAJ. "Like Pong, Telstar could only play video tennis but it retailed at an inexpensive $50 that made it attractive to most families that were on a budget. Coleco managed to sell over a million units"
  22. 22.0 22.1 "Toy Industry Anticipates High Sales". The Windsor Star: p. 23. 12 February 1979. https://books.google.com/books?id=3FU_AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA23&article_id=3848,3907810. "Coleco first introduced its Telstar game computer in June, 1976, before other toy companies had turned to electronics. About 300,000 Telstar units have been sold since, Clarke said."
  23. 23.0 23.1 https://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com/tag/magnavox-odyssey/
  24. 24.0 24.1 Smith, Alexander (November 27, 2019). They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry. 1: 1971 – 1982. CRC Press. pp. 207–9. ISBN 978-1-138-38990-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=Cxy_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT204.
  25. Nowak, Peter (December 20, 2011) (in en). Sex, Bombs, and Burgers: How War, Pornography, and Fast Food Have Shaped Modern Technology. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 132. ISBN 9780762776108. https://books.google.com/books?id=OVWNBAAAQBAJ.
  26. "Buffums Advertisement". Pomona, California: Progress Bulletin. 1975-11-06. p. 3. https://archive.org/details/pomona-progress-bulletin-1975-11-06/page/n1/mode/2up?q=buffums+odyssey+100.
  27. "Ken Crane's Advertisement". Tele-Vues (Long Beach, California: Independent Press Telegram): p. 96. 1975-12-14. https://archive.org/details/independent-press-telegram-1975-12-14/page/n95/mode/2up?q=odyssey+200.
  28. Picard, Martin (December 2013). "The Foundation of Geemu: A Brief History of Early Japanese video games". Game Studies 13 (2). ISSN 1604-7982. https://gamestudies.org/1302/articles/picard.
  29. https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/92331-first-home-console-light-gun
  30. https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/06/01/odyssey-35-years-later
  31. "The Imagination Machine - Georgia State University News -". Georgia State News Hub. 15 March 2018. https://news.gsu.edu/2018/03/15/the-imagination-machine/.
  32. 32.0 32.1 Video games. Put your backhand on TV, By Cindy Morgan, Popular Mechanics, Oct 1976, Page 80, Picture and listed in table: ...APF TV Fun / Price: $90 / Number of Players: 1-2 / .../ Color: no / ... / Remarks: Manual or auto-serve; ball angle selection...
  33. http://www.pong-story.com/allieds.htm
  34. 34.0 34.1 http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/allied-leisures-name-of-game-home-video.html
  35. How Many Units Were Sold? Playing the Numbers Game with Video Games. The History of How We Play (2020-03-20).
  36. Herman, Leonard (1997). Phoenix: the fall & rise of videogames (2nd ed. ed.). Union, NJ: Rolenta Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-9643848-2-5. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=duITAQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 16 February 2012. "Like Pong, Telstar could only play video tennis but it retailed at an inexpensive $50 that made it attractive to most families that were on a budget. Coleco managed to sell over a million units that year."
  37. http://kotaku.com/5785568/nintendos-first-console-is-one-youve-never-played
  38. Koyama, Yusuke (2023-06-02). History of the Japanese Video Game Industry. Springer Nature. pp. 41-2. ISBN 978-981-99-1342-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=uITCEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA41.


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